Mitt Romney Is Getting Completely Shredded For His Response To The US Embassy Attacks

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is getting hammered
today over his campaign's combative and politically-charged
response to the attacks on the U.S. Embassies in Egypt and
Libya.

Before we take a look at what Republicans are saying, we've laid
out a timeline of Romney's response over the past 24 hours to
give you an idea of why people are so upset:

Sept. 11, 10:09 p.m.: The Romney campaign
releases a statement from the candidate, embargoed until
midnight on Sept. 12 (after September 11), on the
"developments" in Libya and Egypt. Here's the statement:

“I'm outraged by the attacks on American diplomatic missions
in Libya and Egypt and by the death of an American consulate
worker in Benghazi. It's disgraceful that the Obama
Administration's first response was not to condemn attacks on our
diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the
attacks.”

Romney is apparently referring to a statement put out by the U.S.
Embassy in Cairo Tuesday condemning "efforts by misguided
individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims." Reports
conflict on whether this statement was released before, or during
the attacks on the Embassy, but it seems clear the Embassy was
trying to quell the growing mob.

Sept. 11, 10: 10
p.m.:
Politico reports that a senior White House official
disavowed the statement from the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, saying
that it "did not reflect the views of the U.S.
government."

Sept. 11, 10:24 p.m.: The Romney campaign
lifts the embargo, emailing reporters that they can use the
candidate's statement immediately. It is not clear why the
campaign decided to lift the embargo.

“We are shocked that, at a time when the United States of
America is confronting the tragic death of one of our
diplomatic officers in Libya, Governor Romney would choose to
launch a political attack.”

Sept. 12, 1:49 a.m.:
Al-Arabiya reports that the U.S. Ambassador to Libya
and three other members of the embassy staff were killed in
the attacks.

Sept. 12, 7:21 a.m.: The White House
releases a statement from President Obama condemning the
"outrageous attack" on the U.S. Embassy in Libya.

Sept. 12, 7:47 a.m.: Foreign Policy's Josh
Rogin posts an
interview with Romney's senior foreign policy advisor Rich
Williamson that took place Tuesday night, while the
attacks were still ongoing and before it was known that
four embassy staff members had died in Libya. In the
interview, Williamson says the attacks are "part of a
broader scheme of the president's failure to be an
effective leader for U.S. interests in the Middle
East."

Sept. 12, ~10:00 a.m.: Romney doubles down
on his criticism of Obama, and stands by his campaign's
late-night statement, saying that "we express immediately
when we feel that the President and his administration have
done something which is inconsistent with the principles of
America." (BuzzFeed
has the full press conference here.)

Sept. 12, 2:07 p.m.: Under growing
criticism for the response, the Romney campaign releases
another statement, accusing the White House of being
"hypocritical" by attacking Romney over his statement. It's
worth noting that, other than LaBolt's statement Tuesday
night, the Obama campaign has been silent on the
issue.

The bottom line is that
Romney's response was incendiary — a political
gamble that aimed to shake up the news cycle after a week of
stories about Obama's widening lead in the race. And it
backfired.

The backlash has been swift and harsh, and it's come at
Romney from all directions, including from within his own
campaign.

Reports indicate the embassy in Cairo released its
initial statement before the invasion of the embassy
commenced. Doesn’t this show they were trying to tamp down
the protest and prevent what ultimately happened, not
sympathize with the protesters?

– The Administration was wrong to stand by a statement
sympathizing with those who had breached our embassy in Egypt
instead of condemning their actions.

– Distancing themselves from the statement and saying it
wasn't ‘cleared by Washington’ reflects the mixed signals
they are sending to the world.

– American leadership needs to be decisive and resolute
when our interests are threatened or attacked. For the last
four years, this has been lacking.

– We have seen a foreign policy of weakness, indecision,
and a decline in American influence and respect – and
yesterday we saw the consequences.

– If pressed: The Obama campaign is now attacking
Governor Romney for being critical of the same statement the
Administration itself disavowed. This is hypocritical.

Did Governor Romney “jump the gun” last night in
releasing his statement?

– No. It is never too soon to stand up for American
values and interests.

Still, the attacks on the U.S. Embassies in the
Middle East — and Romney's related blunder — don't change the
fact that the 2012 presidential race is still all about the
economy. What Romney's response does show, however,
is that his campaign is, at best, easily distracted, and at
worst, that they are getting increasingly desperate that
their candidate and their message aren't working.

UPDATE, 4:21 p.m.: Scaramucci emailed
Business Insider this afternoon to
clarify that his tweet was not intended as an attack on
Romney. He also pointed us to his latest tweets (the first
one links to this story):